essay collection
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Worth the Chuckles and Tears: Calypso by David Sedaris
Part of the magic of David Sedaris’s work stems from the simple truth that you really can’t laugh heartily until you’re hurting deeply.
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Lessons from a Life: Alexander Chee’s How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
[T]he effect of reading Chee’s essays is to be reminded of why we write, but also, why we read, even in these times of never-ending distress.
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Here’s Your Beginning: A Conversation with Lynn Freed
Lynn Freed discussions her recent essay collection, The Romance of Elsewhere, the importance of a good first sentence, and the risks involved in writing irony.
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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #117: Paula Carter
“One of my core beliefs is that, by sharing our stories, we come to understand each other more and build empathy.”
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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #114: Chelsea Martin
“I think time is really undervalued by people who come from money because they just have the time.”
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Carving Out Enough Space on the Cloud: Talking with Hanif Abdurraqib
Hanif Abdurraqib discusses They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, honoring survival by showing up, and refusing to be governed by genre.
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Navigating Empathy: Camille T. Dungy’s Guidebook to Relative Strangers: Journeys into Race, Motherhood, and History
Luckily for us, Dungy’s increase in empathy and experience coincides with her embrace of the braided essay: her thinking crashes people, places, and ideas against each other in unexpected and adventurous ways.
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The Rumpus Book Club Chat with Samantha Irby
Samantha Irby discusses her new essay collection, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, all that comes along with writing about your life, and reading great horror books.
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A Portrait of the Writing Process: Durga Chew-Bose’s Too Much and Not the Mood
Chew-Bose approaches the word essay less as a noun and more as a verb.
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The Rumpus Interview with Melissa Febos
Melissa Febos discusses Abandon Me, confessional writing, Billie Holiday, reenacting trauma, cataloguing narratives, and searching for identity.
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The Rumpus Book Club Interviews Hilton Als
The Rumpus Book Club chats with Hilton Als about his new collection White Girls, an intriguing amalgam of fiction, essay, and memoir.